Plain Fame

by Sarah Price

  Compliments like that were rare, and Amanda forced a smile. But she didn’t feel like smiling. She also didn’t feel like quilting. She didn’t feel like doing much more than staying in bed and feeling sorry for herself. She missed the life and vitality that Alejandro had brought to the farm. It had been far too long since the house had felt so alive. The death of Aaron had drained the farm of laughter and life. Alejandro had returned it. But now that he was gone, it seemed he had taken it away with him.

  “They’re back,” Elias said as he hurried through the door. He shut and locked the door behind him, his eyes scanning the room to see if the windows were open. “Shut those windows and blinds, Lizzie.”

  “Who’s back?” Amanda said, setting the needle and thread down on the quilt. “Those men?”

  “Ja,” Elias replied as he pulled the green shades down over the windows by the kitchen counter. “And there are more of them.”

  “More?” Amanda asked, her eyes wide and the color draining from her face.

  Lizzie stood against the counter, wrapping her arms around herself. “How many?”

  “Six, I reckon,” Elias said.

  “What do we do?”

  The question was simple, but the answer far too complex for anyone to answer. Elias stared at Lizzie, the silence speaking far more of the challenges that faced them than if he had tried to respond. Without going to the authorities, there was no stopping the photographers. Amish didn’t press charges. Amish didn’t use the police. Clearly, the men in the driveway knew that and felt safe trespassing. Yet Elias couldn’t continue to allow these men to trespass and disrupt their lives. Something would have to give.

  “Mayhaps I need to seek out the bishop,” he finally said.

  The thought of being left alone at the farm with those men lingering and lurking outside did not sit well with Amanda. Without her father, it would only be her mamm to protect them both from the intruders. It was apparent that the men were not shy about being overly aggressive. “I suppose we couldn’t all go,” she mentioned.

  “You’ll be all right here,” her daed said, although everyone in the room knew that he was not as convinced as he sounded.

  When Elias went outside to hitch up the horse and buggy, Lizzie peered through the window and watched. She refused to let Amanda see what was happening. Instead, Lizzie shook her head and gasped more than once, tsk-tsking, with tears falling down her cheeks. When the buggy finally rattled down the driveway, she hurried to the door to double check that she had locked it properly.

  “Why are they here, Mamm?” Amanda asked.

  “I just don’t know, Dochder,” Lizzie responded. She was shaking and tense, clearly anxious about being alone without Elias at the farm.

  For the next hour, they sat quietly in the kitchen. It was dark with the shades drawn, and Lizzie didn’t make a move to light the lantern. Amanda tried to quilt some more, but she kept unthreading the needle or missing the quilt lines. Giving up, for she didn’t feel like quilting anymore, she shut her eyes and tried to rest. She hadn’t slept well the night before and was tired. But even now, she was too tense to nap. Her mamm alternated between trying to read the Bible and peeking out the window. Amanda didn’t need to ask whether the men were still out there. She could tell by the tight expression on her mamm’s face that the intruders were still in the driveway.

  By the time they heard the buggy return, Amanda couldn’t help herself from scurrying to her feet and reaching for the crutches. She moved over to the window and peeked outside as she stood next to her mother. Three buggies rolled into the driveway, and to Amanda’s horror, she also noticed that there were more than six men out there now, all with their cameras pointed at her father, the bishop, and one of the ministers. They ignored the photographers as they hurried to the porch. Lizzie quickly unlocked the door and let them inside.

  The bishop’s face was tight and drawn. Clearly, he was displeased. He removed his hat and stared at Lizzie and Amanda. “I am sorry for your troubles,” he started. “Elias told us what has been happening here.” He glanced at the other man, David Yoder. “I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t come to see for myself.”

  “How do we get them to leave?” Lizzie pleaded, her voice cracking with emotion.

  The bishop pursed his lips and shook his head. “I hesitate to say it, but I feel that we must contact the Englische authorities to have those camera people removed from the property. That is all that we can do,” he said.

  “Perhaps having their law enforcement chase them away will be enough,” David Yoder added hopefully.

  Elias merely shook his head. “I just don’t understand why they are here,” he said.

  The men decided that David Yoder would leave to visit a neighboring farm that had a telephone to contact the police. When he left the house, they could hear the noise of the crowd that littered the driveway outside. It wasn’t until they heard his horse pull the buggy down the driveway that everyone seemed to exhale in relief.

  Still, there was a tense silence in the room while they waited. No one knew what to say or do. Lizzie and Amanda sat on the sofa, holding each other’s hands, staring at the bishop. He felt their apprehension and moved over to a nearby chair.

  “Perhaps we should pray together,” he said.

  Elias stood by the table, his head bowed as he listened to the bishop recite from the Ausbund:

  With fear and distress I call unto you,

  O God, be my Grantor now,

  And stand by me securely,

  Through Jesus Christ our Lord,

  Because I am put to the test.

  The kingdom suffers violence,

  The way, O Lord, is narrow,

  Whoever would receive it,

  Must indeed pray and fast.

  It was almost thirty minutes later when two cars pulled into the driveway. Amanda could hear the tires spinning against the gravel and a whooping sound from outside. Police cars. The bishop and Elias hurried to the window, blocking Amanda’s view of what was happening. Her heart raced inside her chest. She wished that she could see, too, but that was impossible, especially with the bishop in the room. It would be too disrespectful for her to join them at the window or ask them to step aside.

  Patiently, she waited while she sat next to her mamm. Time seemed to stop. Amanda glanced at her mother and saw that her eyes were squeezed tight. She was rocking slightly, and her mouth was moving. She was reciting a prayer, but Amanda couldn’t tell which one. The bishop and Elias remained positioned at the window, watching without saying a word.

  Almost twenty minutes passed before they heard the footsteps on the porch and a brisk knock at the door. Elias was the first to move toward it. The door creaked as he opened it and invited the two officers inside.

  Their presence seemed to fill the room. Amanda felt her chest tighten at the sight of the two uniformed officers standing in the kitchen. Her glance fell to their sides, where each wore a holster and a pistol. The scene was surreal, and she reached for her mamm’s hand again.

  The taller officer nodded his head at the ladies but spoke directly to Elias and the bishop. “The men are moving off your property. We have instructed them that they are trespassing.”

  “Why are they here?” the bishop demanded.

  The second officer glanced in the direction of the two women and cleared his throat. Clearly, he was uncomfortable. “It appears that your daughter has become a person of interest to the media.”

  The room seemed to spin around Amanda, and for a moment, she thought she might faint. Person of interest? The words ricocheted in her head. She had no idea what that meant, but it was obvious that it was not a good thing. Why would anyone be interested in her? How on earth could she, a plain Amish woman, be a person of interest? And to whom?

  “I don’t understand,” Elias admitted.

  The first officer tr
ied to explain. “Apparently, she has some sort of relationship with a celebrity. A singer named Viper.”

  “There’s no relationship!” Lizzie said.

  “He’s no longer here,” Elias added quickly.

  “Yes, but the media is here, and that’s the problem,” the officer said empathetically. He paused and glanced at Amanda again. She was staring at him, her eyes wide and frightened. “Your daughter’s association with this singer has elevated her to quasi-celebrity status.” The way he said the word association irritated Amanda, and she caught her breath.

  Lizzie squeezed Amanda’s hand. “There was no relationship!” she repeated urgently. “He just brought her back from that New York place after she was in the hospital.”

  “I understand that,” the officer said as he took a deep breath. “However, the association between Viper and your daughter has gone viral, I’m afraid.”

  Elias and Lizzie looked at each other, then back at the officer. “Viral? A sickness?” Elias asked.

  “Not like that,” the office said gently. “I don’t want to alarm you, but there are photos and stories being published in the news, on television, and all over the Internet.” He shook his head apologetically, then turned his attention back to the men. “There isn’t much we can do about the attention. Just hope that it dies down, Mr. Beiler.”

  “You mean this will continue?”

  The bishop frowned. “You told them to leave the property. They must go away, ja?”

  The officer lifted his hands, a gesture of uncertainty. “We can hope they will go away. But the law is clear. As long as they are not trespassing on private property, there isn’t much we can do.”

  From the expression on the bishop’s face, Amanda could tell that he was angry. “They cannot just keep printing their stories!”

  “Actually, they can.”

  “That’s an invasion of privacy!” Elias said.

  “She has turned into a quasi-celebrity,” the officer repeated. “The laws are different. She has become a limited public figure, and as such, the media can publish stories and her photo.”

  “The stories aren’t true, if they say there was a relationship!” Lizzie replied, shaking her head from side to side.

  The officer raised his hands, palms up in defeat. “Unless you wish to file a lawsuit, they will continue to publish whatever they feel will sell their papers. And, again, the laws are different for quasi-celebrities. Once you are in that category, they can basically say anything they want. It’s the bad side of freedom of speech,” he explained.

  Amanda felt the tears start to flow down her cheeks. She lifted the edge of her black apron and dabbed at them. “They don’t have my permission,” she whispered, her voice cracking as the words escaped. “That’s not right.”

  The officers stood there, uncertain of what to say. For a long moment, the room was silent. The clock ticked in the background, the sound reverberating throughout the kitchen. Amanda felt her chest tighten again and found it hard to breathe. Her heart fluttered, palpitating as she realized that this was exactly what Alejandro had meant when he told her that his world was ugly and not good. She reached up and pressed the palm of her hand over her heart. The pressure helped calm her.

  “We will continue to monitor the situation,” the officer said. “If they trespass again, you should alert us. Have a neighbor call if you don’t have a phone. But short of hiring a lawyer and seeking legal advice, there isn’t too much we can do. There just aren’t any laws that are being broken. We can only hope the attention disappears quickly.”

  The second officer nodded. “The interest is likely to die down in a few days or so.”

  “Days?” Elias gasped in disbelief. He looked at Lizzie. “Will they stay off the property, then?”

  The officer shrugged. “Perhaps. They might venture onto the property, then leave again, knowing that the Amish won’t press charges. It will be touch-and-go until they lose interest.” He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out two white cards. Handing one to the bishop and one to Elias, he said, “My number is on the card. Please use it if they come onto the property again. I’ll have my officers keep an eye on them, see if our presence helps to persuade them to leave.” He took a deep breath. “We can hope for that to happen sooner rather than later.”

  After the officers had left, the bishop stood for a long moment with his back turned toward the Beilers. He was staring out the window, the shade now elevated so that sunlight shone into the kitchen. No one spoke as they watched him, waiting to hear what he would say. As the leader of the community, it was the bishop who would guide them through such a crisis. They were counting on his wisdom.

  “Bishop?”

  At the sound of Lizzie’s voice, he turned around. “I suggest we pray on this. The Lord gives us tests. This is surely one of them.” He ran his hand over his face and sighed. “It would have been better if that Englischer had not stayed here. But we cannot undo what has been done.” He walked over near the sofa and sat down in the chair. “Let us pray before I leave,” he said and lowered his head for a silent prayer, shared with the family.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Alejandro sat at the table on his patio by the pool, sipping at a steaming mug of strong coffee and staring at the pile of newspapers and tabloids before him. When he was in Miami, his housekeeper always left them on the table so that, while he was eating his breakfast, he could read through them. As a celebrity, keeping up with the buzz within the entertainment industry was important, although it was something Alejandro often neglected when he traveled.

  After leaving Lancaster, he had met up with his manager in Atlanta instead of returning directly to Miami. And then Mike sent him to Los Angeles for a string of interviews, meetings, and appointments with his production team. Now he had a few days to relax in Miami before returning to Los Angeles to review the new music video and embark on a series of concerts along the West Coast.

  He enjoyed his morning time in Miami. It was usually quiet. The sun was just starting to rise over the majestic view he had of the Atlantic Ocean from his tiered patio. The water glistened and reflected the light, shimmering like a sea of jewels. He had paid top dollar for this penthouse condominium with multimillion-dollar views and even more expensive security. It was his place of respite from the trappings of the crazy life he led.

  But this morning, when he picked up the first paper, he froze, his coffee cup barely touching his lips. His eyes scanned the front cover, and he caught his breath. It had been more than three weeks since he had left Lititz and returned to what his manager called the “real world.” He had been so busy with interviews and videotaping in Los Angeles that he hadn’t given much thought to Amanda and her family. It was an event, albeit a nice one, but just an event: one of many that filled Alejandro’s life. Oftentimes he felt that in his life he was simply a moving target with scenes that faded in and out. Once lived, those scenes were replaced with new ones. Similar scenarios, different actors. Yes, he had all but forgotten about Lititz, Pennsylvania. Alejandro was gone, replaced once again by Viper.

  But now, as he scanned the headlines and saw those familiar brown eyes staring at him from the cover of the tabloid, he realized that the Alejandro “event” had unexpectedly crossed over into the world of Viper.

  “Rodriego!” he called out.

  “¿Sí, Alejandro?” A young man, dressed in black slacks and a black polo shirt, walked over to the table. “¿Qué necesitas?”

  Alejandro scowled and waved the paper at the young man, who was one of his more seasoned personal assistants. With his blue eyes flashing, Alejandro shook his head. From the muscles clenching in his jaw, it was clear that he was upset. “At what point,” he snapped, his words sharp and crisp, his typical gentlemanly tone replaced with anger, “were you going to tell me about this?”

  The young man swallowed and stared at Alejandro, uncertain how to re
spond. “I . . . I left the papers like you wanted. I’ve been collecting them while you traveled.”

  Alejandro pushed through the stack of papers and noticed a flurry of different photos on the cover of newspapers and even a magazine. The headlines popped out at him: “Viper’s New Vixen?” “Amish Girl Captures Viper’s Heart.” “Viper Hibernating with the Amish.” “Viper’s Secret Affair with Amish Belle Exposed!” Each one was worse than the previous one. There were pictures of the farm, layouts of various photos of Amanda trying to hide her face from the photographers, of her parents, of other Amish people.

  “Dios mío,” he said as he hung his head in his hands. Why had no one told him? He paid people to watch his image, paid people to keep him informed. Yet not one of them had thought to alert him that the paparazzi and media were still targeting Amanda? “I need you to follow this up, Rodriego. It needs to die down! And I mean now!” He reached for his cell phone, glaring over his shoulder at Rodriego. “I want a daily report on this. ¿Me entiendes?”

  “Sí, sí,” Rodriego said and hurried away, more to escape Alejandro and his temper than for any other reason.

  Alejandro knew that he needed to diffuse the situation. His heart quickened, and he felt fury race through his veins. He wasn’t quite certain how to do it. If he tried to contact Amanda, he knew that would make things worse. The paparazzi would be all over the story, and the media would explode even further. While he knew that time would make the story die, Alejandro felt compelled to try to help it along. The fact that it hadn’t died down yet was surprising, even to him.

  “Mike,” he snapped into the phone when he heard his manager answer. “We have a situation with the Lititz girl!”

  He knew that he was telling Mike something that was probably already on his manager’s radar. He waited for Mike to jump into a tirade and to start yelling on the other end of the phone, screaming about how he had warned Alejandro and about how bad an idea going to Lititz had been.